To the person who nitpicked about the flower on the lilac street signs, you said you “have taken a good look,” your words, at the signs and criticized them. I, too, think a different style of lilac might have looked nice—like a whole sprig instead of a petal, perhaps. But gee, I wish I had that much time on my hands to go around taking such a good look at things. And to the caller who noticed the upside down wreaths on the street lights, I saw that too and thought it was odd. I like the wreath being on the top.

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With all the grousing, complaining and crabbing—those are old words, maybe—I just have to say to the Lombardian, great job with Jane Charmelo’s article about the bird that came back; heartwarming and excellent writing. I think this needs to be recognized. Thank you.

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Hello, Lombard village president candidates. The No. 1 question that needs to be answered on your campaign platform is, Will you repeal the no-comment policy to SPEAK OUT? Well, what’s it going to be—yes or no?

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Lombard, if you give District 44 a tax increase you’re just opening the checkbook for more tech toys. Just give the kids iPads and whatever latest gadget is out there and that will make them become great students and citizens. Right. The district’s financial plan is to get rid of high salaries; well, the high salaries are justifiably earned by the veteran teachers. They’re systematically getting rid of the good ones and you see the results on the ISATS.

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Hello, I’m calling about a situation at Dunkin’ Donuts. I always thought that’s why the police officer was there most mornings, to collect doughnuts and give them to the homeless people. He just seems like the kind of guy who would have a heart for such a thing.

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Government does not get things done; people get things done. In New York and New Jersey it is the people who make the difference. Government failed. Neighbors and strangers bring food, clothing and help rebuild a senior’s home. Put the party labels on the side; pressure our representatives to get working and stop dividing the people. Unless we the people put pressure on our representatives, nothing will get done. It is up to us to say, “Stop the nonsense, Washington, Springfield. Start working for us.”

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There is an awful lot of talk about increasing taxes to pay the bills. We didn’t cause the bills; our free-spending and give-away government spends all the money. They spend too much. They give away too much. They take too much for themselves and we have too many government employees. They get paid extremely well and the thing I want to know is, when is our DuPage County president, Mr. Cronin, going to get the airport tax off my tax bill? I shouldn’t be paying for that. This is ridiculous. Call Cronin and tell him to get that tax bill out of our pockets.

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This is Lombard calling. I would like you to be aware that the Dunkin’ Donuts is not good for you. If you want to have a treat, by golly, go have a doughnut. If you’re so concerned about that, go donate fresh vegetables or grow them in your garden and donate them. Or donate others that you’ve bought or donate a check. But don’t worry about Dunkin’ Donuts not donating.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I want to say great job, District 44, and I do believe that we should raise our taxes and I do believe we should continue to take care of our most precious asset, our children. And the people who spend the majority of the time of the day, of the year, with our children are the staff at District 44, who are doing a great job and need to be recognized and compensated for that. They deserve to be paid for what they do, they deserve the health benefits they get; they take care of our most precious asset, and I, for one, will vote for that tax increase to continue to make sure that our children are getting the best education they deserve. Thank you, Lombard District 44, and thank you, SPEAK OUT, for sharing my message.

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I’m an older, white conservative make from Lombard. Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult anybody regarding the SPEAK OUT call about how we need to have more than just white, Caucasian people in there. Caller, let me address this: There’s a gentleman named J.C. Watts, a black male from Oklahoma who had better ideas than Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, John McCain, and it’s not a race thing. People need to get over that, whether you’re an old white male, old black guy, young black guy, young whatever. Get over it. That’s what’s destroying this country. We need conservative ideals and to protect the unborn.

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I live in Lombard and I enjoy it. However, I do not enjoy the fact that all of us Lombard residents will pay higher taxes and water rates next year. There is an increase of 3.61 percent on your property tax, the largest amount allowed under Illinois property tax cap laws. So if your house is worth 250,000 then you will pay approximately $480 more next year on your property tax. Your water bill will also increase to approximately $8 more each billing period. What can residents of Lombard do about it? Nothing but pay up. However when you vote for Lombard politicians you can know this: Trustees Laura Fitzpatrick, Keith Giagnorio, Greg Gron and Bill Ware voted in favor of the levy, while Acting Village President Peter Breen and Trustee Zachary Wilson opposed it. Oh yes, but they did eliminate the vehicle sticker that costs $15 per car. I hope they do not insult Lombardians thinking this will make us feel better.

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Water rates, taxes going up in Lombard, but our vehicle stickers will now be free. Some consolation. I seem to remember years back there was talk of doing away with the vehicle sticker cost in exchange for an increase in the percentage of sales tax rate in the village. Anyone remember that? Obviously that never happened. How do other villages who don’t charge for vehicle stickers get their revenue? Maybe the village should investigate how other municipalities do things without having to raise our taxes.

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What a wonderful food drive the students of Glenbard East did this month. They go door to door giving out fliers and grocery bags, then one week later pick up the bags filled with food. I admire the school and students for supporting and participating in such a needed and worthy cause. When I see young people doing this sort of thing, I know our village and country are going in the right direction. Thank you.

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Hi, I was calling in response to the SPEAK OUT on Dunkin’ Donuts and their doughnuts and bagels going into the garbage and not being given away. Just wanted to say that a couple of years ago I was at one of the major food chains and saw an employee wheeling a basket just filled with breads, doughnuts and rolls in plastic bags. I actually commented to him, "Oh, are you giving those away to a charity?" And he said, “No. They’re going into the garbage,” and that’s because the health department would not allow them to donate these baked goods to a charity, which I found very strange, for one. I know of one bread bakery, for one, that gives all their leftover, baked goods to charity. I’m not sure if there was a misunderstanding or what’s allowed by the health department, or if this is just misinformation. Possibly businesses should be informed by the health department that they are or are not allowed to give away their leftover food.

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It’s approximately 5 p.m. that I drove past Lilacia Park. Oh, my goodness, it’s so beautiful. Over the years I’ve enjoyed it and each year it seems they add something to enhance the beauty. How spectacular. I hope everyone in Lombard gets to go there. It’s just a magnificent site. I don’t have any little cherubs to take over there but it’s just so pretty. I’m so pleased with our park district. Keep up the good work, folks; you’re doing a great job. Bye bye and Merry Christmas to all.

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Well, here we go. We just received a letter from our Medicare supplement carrier telling us our rates are going up in March and our benefits are changing. As it is now, we are paying $475 a month. How much more can we pay when we get a 2 percent increase on Medicare? Thank you, Obama.

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Lombard calling. The latest issue of the village’s Lombard Pride newsletter, that at the Thursday, Dec. 20, meeting of the village board, the trustees will once again be asked to take taxpayer dollars from the village treasury to make the debt payment for the bonds used to build the Westin Yorktown Hotel and convention center. This is the third time the trustees are asked to buy oats for this dead horse. One year ago, this past July, they denied that same request for almost $1 million to make this bond payment. Lombard taxpayers should contact their district trustee to again deny this move. There’s about $9 million already being held in reserve for this debt. Use that before squandering any more of our tax dollars on this white elephant. In the meantime, they need to come up with a plan to get out of the hotel and convention center business, once and for all.

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Hi, this is Lombard. Driving around Lombard, thank you to those residents who are displaying a nativity scene. One would think that the reason for this season is to display Disney characters and animals. The reason for the season is Jesus. Thank you and Merry Christmas to all.